Carl Beane died on Wednesday, adding yet another storied voice to the list of great sports announcers we've lost in recent years.
Carl Beane, who became the voice of Fenway Park over his ten-year career as PA announcer for the Boston Red Sox, died Wednesday at the age of 59 after having a heart attack while driving, according to ESPN.
Red Sox Nation is in mourning, after Beane crashed his SUV into a tree and a wall, and was later pronounced dead at Harrington Hospital in Southbridge, Worcester District Attorney Joseph D. Early Jr. wrote in a statement obtained by ESPN.
"We are filled with sadness at this tragic news," Red Sox President Larry Lucchino said in a statement. "His legion of friends with the Red Sox and the media will miss him enormously, and all of Red Sox Nation will remember his presence, his warmth, and his voice."
Beane became the voice of the Red Sox after the 2002 season, when he won a competition to fill the slot, in which he also spoke about the team on the radio and was the team's announcer when they won the World Series in 2004 and 2007.
Carl Beane's death was just one of several recent passings in the world of sports announcing that have come in recent years. Here we've compiled a list of five other voices that were silenced in the past decade:
1. Jam Mandich: Mandich was the most popular broadcaster in the history of the Miami Dolphins, and he earned that reputation by staying positive even as the Dolphins went from their heyday under Dan Marino to one of the worst teams in the NFL. He died at the age of 62 just a couple of weeks ago on April 26, shocking Miami fans, who had watched him play tight end on great Dolphins teams before he made his mark announcing their games. His catchphrase was "never better," which was how he always responded to callers who were hoping to discuss the team he loved. And now there may never be a better Dolphins announcer.
2. Bob Sheppard: On July 11, 2010, New York Yankees fans mourned the passing of one of the most-storied announcers in baseball, the inimitable Bob Sheppard. After having been the Yankees' PA announcer for more than five decades, Sheppard had attained legendary status among fans of the Yanks, who sometimes called him "The Voice Of God" and his passing was a major hit to a franchise that had won numerous world championships to the sound of his pitch-perfect words. For more than half a century, Bob Sheppard greeted Yankee Stadium attendees with the words, "Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to Yankee Stadium," and a trip to the Bronx ballpark will never again be the same for generations of New York fans now that he is gone.
3. Bert Randolph Sugar: While Sugar was not actually an announcer, his ubiquitous presence for decades in the world of professional boxing makes him worth mentioning in this article about the voices that define sports. The author of 80 books, most of which were on the topic of boxing history, he had a love for the sport that may never be surpassed. On March 25, Sugar passed away at the age of 74, taking his unmatched knowledge of boxing and his irreplacable personality with him. In January 2005, Sugar was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame for his contributions to the sport, and though he is no longer with us, he will forever live on in his books.
4. Larry Munson: The voice of the Georgia Bulldogs, Munson devastated the school's legion of diehard fans when he died Nov. 20, 2011, at the age of 89. The official play-by-play announcer of Georgia football since 1966, Munson was an old-school personality the likes of which are hard to find nowadays. He lived a full life, serving as a U.S. Army medic in World War II and even doing a stint as a broadcaster with the Atlanta Braves. But he will be remembered as the legendary man who brought UGA games to fans for four decades until he retired in 2008. He will be missed.
5. Ernie Harwell: Harwell will go down as one of the most-storied baseball announcers in history, as he was the voice of the Detroit Tigers -- for all but two years in the 1990s -- from 1960 to 2002. But Harwell, known variously as the "Voice of Summer" and the "Voice of the Tigers," had contributions that went even further than that, as before he went to Detroit he was a broadcaster with the Brooklyn Dodgers (who were the first team to trade a player for an announcer), the New York Giants and the Baltimore Orioles. He died on May 4, 2010, at the age of 92, rocking the Detroit Tigers organization and leaving a legacy fit for a king. Like all the great announcers before and since, Harwell will be remembered for countless summers to come.
